Craig McManus

For over 30 years of my professional career in the green industry there have been many blessings in helping people create their outdoor living dreams.

My first paying summer job at the age of thirteen introduced me to horticulture. It was in the old Douglas County High School educational greenhouses.

My Dad operated a part time landscape business for a few years to supplement the family budget, so I worked in and around landscaping occasionally over the next 15 years. I never dreamed that I would pursue it professionally.

Craig McManus GCPP #185

The entrepreneurial bug bit me after earning a business degree from Auburn University, with special studies in building science in 1978. The garden center business seemed like a good fit, so in 1983, I began working for Pike Nurseries to learn the business and begin my real education in the green industry.

McPlants was born in 1985 as a garden center on Rose Avenue in Douglasville, Georgia on a 3 acre track I developed. Garden centers are romantic places for the customers, but hard work for the owners and staff. It reminds me of the trials in farming. Watching people become excited about their outdoor dreams and helping them succeed made it worth all the hard work.

Craig McManus (r) Jake Tinga Young Professional Award

Along the way I was honored with the first Jake Tinga Young Professional Award given by the Georgia Green Industry Association in 1991. The previous year, 1990, I graduated in the second Leadership Douglas class.

The business model changed for McPlants in 1992. The garden center closed and the focus became landscape design and installation for residential and commercial projects.

Sally Waugh became my business partner and wife all on one beautiful day in October 1993. She handles the office chores for our business. Most importantly, she is the mother of our three children.

I really enjoyed the creativity of hand drawing landscape designs, but I appreciate the speed of creating a design on the computer. It allows you to explore various options quicker. Placing the right plant in the right location is a key to low maintenance design, plant health and year round interest.

Landscape design changed for me one day when I observed the soil I had just shaped with a Bobcat skid loader. The guys had raked out the soil and to me it was as pretty as a well formed vase. The curves were just right and the flow of the land was beautiful. That was the day I realized that my God given artistic talent was being used for more than just sticking plants in the ground. The mediums are the soil, plants, turf, water, rock, concrete pavers, retaining walls, wood, mulch, and lights used to shape the outdoor environment with artistic elements for others to enjoy.

We became a trusted Authorized Contractor for Belgard in 2012. Belgard has “earned a reputation for top-notch service and quality products that exceed industry standards.” Huge selections of retaining walls, concrete pavers, outdoor living items like kitchens, fireplaces, fire pits make up their product line.

You will never know it all in this business. There is always something new to learn every day.

2008 was the year to learn more about trees for me. After field training and in class study I earned an International Society of Arboriculture’s (ISA) designation as a ISA Certified Arborist. Tree health is a huge factor in our own health. They are so crucial to our wellbeing. This knowledge has helped in finding a process to renew tree health and vitality.

Through the years I have enjoyed training and speaking to various groups.

I have found it rewarding to have been a member and a part of various local and state associations and boards, some of which I helped charter, organize, and serve in leadership rolls .